


Healing

by HaleyBuckley



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020), Tarlos
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:20:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23130844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaleyBuckley/pseuds/HaleyBuckley
Summary: 5 times TK still struggles with his health after his accident + 1 time he’s fully healed  ❤️
Relationships: Owen Strand & TK Strand, Tarlos - Relationship
Comments: 12
Kudos: 370





	Healing

**1.**

TK feels warm. There’s a light weight resting on him but he feels comfortable. His eyes feel heavy and he can hear his own heartbeat in his ears. He feels like he’s floating.

There’s muffled noises around him and something - someone - nudges softly on his arm. He tries to concentrate and make out what the person is saying, he’s so tired though.

“TK?”

The hand on his arm is softly rubbing his shoulder now. He moans a bit, can’t get himself to open his mouth. He tries to blink his eyes open but they still feel too heavy.

“You awake now, son?”

It’s his father, he realizes and he really wants to open his eyes.

“Carlos is downstairs, are you up for a visitor?”

That gets TK’s attention and he pries one eyelid open. His father’s face appears in front of him.

“-at time i- it”

His words come out weird and TK lets out a frustrated sigh. He’s been home for almost a week now but he doesn’t seem to get his body to function properly again. The doctors said that he needs patience and that sadly the lack of oxygen while his lung had collapsed would give him some troubles. But with patience and some practice he should be back to normal.

His dad raises an eyebrow and looks worried at him.

“You ok, kid?”

TK nods and looks over to the clock on his night stand. It’s in the afternoon. He’s slept all morning and through lunch. He actually had plans today and he’s disappointed that he didn’t even made it out of bed.

“Are you hungry? You missed lunch?”

TK pulls the blanket under his chin and frowns.

“Not -ungry.”

Right in time his stomach rumbles and his Dad laughs.

“Tell that to your stomach. I’ll send Carlos upstairs with some food, ok?”

“Yeah.”

TK’s voice sounds rough and he coughs a little.

“And some more water.”

He ruffles through his son’s hair and leaves the room. God, TK feels like a child all over again but he can’t help it, he feels so incredibly tired all the time. According to the doctors it’s normal after being in a coma but TK is annoyed because he wants to get better.

He moves his body around slowly to lie on his back. His limbs still feel heavy and tired. His shoulder is still a bit sore and stiff. Physiotherapie is planned for the weekend but Tk doesn’t know if he’ll be able to move at all. He sighs and puts his arm over his eyes. He welcomes the darkness and lets himself slip away for a bit.

Suddenly there’s movement on his bed and he can feel the matratze moving down under his hip. Something is pressing against his side.

His eyes pop open and Carlos is sitting next to him on the bed.

“Hey sleeping beauty, brought you some food.”

Carlos smiles and it’s infectious. He looks gorgeous like this and TK missed his beautiful smile. His boyfriend’s smile. It’s still all so new and it still makes his heart tingle when he thinks about it. Carlos is his boyfriend.

“How are you?”

Carlos leans over and kisses him on the forehead.

“Good yeah, just sleepy.”

Carlos grins.

“I can see that, it’s afternoon and you’re still in bed.”

TK scoffs but pats the over man’s knee, which is softly resting against his hip.

“You want some food or water?”

Carlos hands him the water bottle and he takes a sip. The cold water running down his throat feels good. He sometimes still gets phantom pains or has a weird feeling in his throat. It’s from the ventilator he was on for a while.

“How was your shift?”

TK asks and takes the other man’s hand to rub over his knuckles softly.

“It’s been quiet but Mark -…”

Tk sees the other man’s mouth move and his eyes sparkle when he talks about his day. The younger man keeps on watching him. Carlos words are turning into one muffled sound. His eyelids drop close but he opens them again. The other man is still talking but Tk can’t hear anything. His mind is tired and foggy all of a sudden. He’s just gonna close his eyes for one second. The other man’s hand lies softly in his and he feels good and safe.

He doesn’t know how much time went by but suddenly he has the urge to open his eyes again. He pops them open quickly and finds Carlos still sitting next to him, typing something on his phone.

“Shit, did I fall asleep on you again?”

He has to concentrate on his words.

Carlos looks up from his phone and smiles.

“Yeah, it’s ok tough. Don’t worry.”

TK rolls his eyes and frowns.

“I’m sorry.”

Carlos softly cups his cheek with his hand and lets his finger run along the younger man’s jawline.

“Your body is tired babe. You just need a bit more rest.”

“Yeah I know but I wanna be with you.”

He feels sad because he can’t be as active with Carlos as they usually are. Carlos turns around and starts taking his shoes off. Followed by his jeans and shirt.

“What are you doing?”

TK looks confused at his boyfriend.

“Resting with you, what else.”

Carlos walks around the bed and lifts up the blanket so he can slip under it. He shuffles closer to TK and the younger man can feels his chest against his back.I It’s nice. Carlos chin is finding it’s way on the spot between his shoulder and neck. He can feel his breath on his skin and his arms are embracing him. It’s comfortable and warm.

“Sleep babe, I’m here.”

**2.**

“Are you sure you’re fine to walk over to Judd and Grace and get them the eggs TK?”

His father hands him the eggs and has this worried look on his face again. TK rolls his eyes and takes them out off his hands.

“It’s just down the road and some fresh air would do me good, right.”

He still has those bad headaches once in a while and his shoulder is still stiff and sore. Moving sometimes costs him so much energy he doesn’t want to move at all but his physiotherapist said he as to move those limbs to get his strenght back. A quick walk over to Judd’s house will surely help.

“But take your phone with you, ok?”

TK waves his phone in front of his Dad’s eyes and puts it in his jeans pocket. He grabs his keys and walks out of the house. It’s late afternoon and already getting darker outside. The air is a bit chilly and TK thinks he should have brought his jacket. It’s a 15 minutes walk to the Ryder’s house and he can walk across the park. He enjoys the quiet and fresh air. Sometimes his head is still so full of things he can’t sort them and everything gets too much. Still an after effect of the shooting. Today was one of those days where he couldn’t get his brain to stop and he felt exhausted since he woke up this morning. It was hard to concentrate on things so he counted the trees he passed till he was at the Ryder’s house.

He walks over to the door and pushes the door bell. It takes a couple of seconds and Judd is the one to open the door.

“Hey kid, you alright?”

Judd gently bumps his shoulder and smiles. TK stumbles a bit but steadies himself again. Judd looks apologeptic at him.

“Yeah m’ good. Here’s the eggs.”

He holds the eggs towards the older man when suddenly a truck drives by and the exhaustpipe backfires. TK freezes on the spot, the sound of the car rattling through his body. He can’t breath and his chest is stinging. His arm goes numb and he watches the eggs falling to the floor. They shatter and spill all over the entrance. He looks at them in trance but then his vision goes blurry and he can see black dots dancing in front of his eyes. He can see Judd moving in front of him, but he can’t hear anything. It’s loud in his head and his eyes are searching for the gun, the gun that hit him, right in the chest. He doesn’t want to see it though so he squeezes his eyes shut. He grips his hoodie tight on his shoulder, his fingers trembling against the material. He can’t control his breathing anymore and he feels like suffocating. There’s suddenly this iron taste in his mouth and he feels like throwing up. He can hear someone scream and he realizes that it’s him. He’s screaming.

“Hey, hey hey TK. No don’t.”

There’s arms touching him, guiding him down on the floor. Another hand finds it’s way on his face.

“God, you need to breath kid. Breath with me.”

He knows that but he can’t, it’s all too loud and his chest feels too tight. His shoulder hurts and he just wants to disappear into the darkness.

His hand is guided somewhere and he can feel a rising and falling movement against it.

“Copy my breathing TK, in and out. You can do it.”

Yes he needs to breath and he’s trying but his chest hurts really bad. He wants to say something but his mouth feels numb.

“-an’t.”

The other man’s hand grips his hand tigher, not letting go.

“Yes you can. In and out. In and out.”

TK tries to focus on the hand now, tries to get air in and out like Judd says.

“Gun?”

He doesn’t recognise his voice, it’s only a whisper and he almost chokes on the words.

“There’s no gun TK, you’re safe. You’re at Grace’s and my place. Open your eyes kid, look at me. You’re safe.”

He’s scared though and doesn’t want to open his eyes, but he knows he can’t stay like this and he trusts Judd with his life.

His chest moves up and down now and he feels finally that air reaching his lung. His heart is beating wild and pressing against his chest. He slowly pries his eyes open. His vision is still blurry but he can see Judd crouching in front of him. He’s still holding his hands. He’s got tears in his eyes and TK suddenly feels bad for scaring the other man.

He blinks a couple of times and he can see the other man clearer now.

“You with me now, kid?”

TK lets out a loud breath and slowly nods.

Judd still keeps TK’s hand on his chest to help him feel his breathing rythm.

TK feels ashamed and lowers his head to avoid the other man’s eyes.

“-m, sorry.”

“Hey, hey,” Judd grabs his chin and moves his head up. ”Please don’t apologize. The car backfiring triggered you, didn’t it?`”

TK nodds again and suddenly feels incredibly tired and exhausted.

“I’m tired of being weak and scared.”

A tear rolls down his face.

“I know, I know, bro. Did you consider seeing a therapist about it. I know I was bragging about it when your Dad sent me to one, but I guess it would help you, too?”

“Yeah. Maybe.” TK lets his shoulders slump down.

“Come here.”

Judd leans over and pushes TK into a hug.

“It’s gonna be alright kid, it’s gonna be alright.”

**3.**

TK stands in his room in front of the mirror. He looks at his shoulder and sees the ugly scar staring back at him. It’s healing nicely but the skin is still red and his shoulder and arm still hurt sometimes when he’s moving it. He puts some creme on it and a new bandage.

He grabs his shirt from the bed and puts first one and than the other arm through the holes. Suddenly he feels a sharp pain in his shoulder and he can’t move his arm anymore. He’s stuck in the T-Shirt half way over his head and arm. He curses loudly and tries to get his arm down but he can’t.

“Oh come on.“

He’s frustrated and tears are spilling into his eyes. He feels pathetic, he can’t even put his own shirt on. It’s been two weeks now since he’s out of the coma and at home. He knows he needs to be patient, especially with his shoulder and arm. It should make a full recovery, the doctors at the hospital had said, but only if he gives it time. He started physiotherapy on the weekend but the pain was too bad they only could do small excercises and TK got even more frustrated. He knows he might be pushing himself too hard but he really wants to get better quick. 

He suddenly wishes he could just pop in some painkillers and make the pain go away. The moment he realizes what just went through his mind, his hands start to shake. He doesn’t have to urge to take anything, but the thought was just there.

Suddenly there’s noises coming from downstairs.

“Dad?!“

He yells as loud as he can, hoping his Dad hears him and can help him with his shirt. He can hear footsteps on the stairs and feels relief wash over him.

“TK? Where are you?“

The voice doesn’t sound like his Dad and he’s confused.

“I’m in In my room.“

The voice comes closer.

“Your room, that is where?“

He notices now that it’s Marjan and he hastily tries to get his shirt down but it’s no use, his shoulder and arm are still stuck. He sighs.

“Second door on the right.“

Seconds later Marjan sticks her head into the room. She smiles but stops in her tracks when she sees the younger man struggling with his shirt.

“Hey, you ok?“

She walks closer.

“I kinda got stuck and my shoulder cramped. I can’t move it and get the shirt over my head and arm.“

TK blushes a bit. He’s still half naked and by now shivering from being in the same position for a while.

“Wait, let me help you. Can I touch you?“

TK just hums in agreement.

There’s fingers on his shoulderbalde now, rubbing circles on it. It feels good and TK feels himself relax a bit more.

“This might sting a bit but wait for it, k?!“

Marjan pushes on a spot on his shoulderblade and his knees almost buckle under him. The woman grabs him under his armpits to hold him upright. His shoulder stings but suddenly he feels the pain ease. Marjan runs her fingers over his arm and grabs his wrist.

“Right work with me, do it slowly, ok?“

The woman pulls the shirt down and TK can finally see her. Together they slowly ease his his arm down.

“There you are.“

She smiles at him and gently rubs his shoulder.

“You good now?“

TK blows out some air and rubs on the bandage on his chest. The pain is still there, in his shoulder but it’s dull. He carefuly tries to flex his arm and it works without too much pain.

“Yeah, thanks, I’m sorry.“

Marjan shakes her head and laughs.

“It’s nothing.“

Suddenly a phone is ringing and the woman walks over to her handbag and gets her phone out. The handbag falls out of her hand though and the stuff from inside spills out on the floor. 

There’s a pill bottle rolling towards TK and comes to an halt right in front of him. Without thinking much he crouches down carefully and grabs the pill bottle. He reads the label and takes in a sharp breath. His mind wanders back to that day and a shudder runs down his spine. It’s the same pills. He’s gripping the pill bottle tight.

There’s a hand around his own now and he realizes that Marjan stands in front of him.

“You ok there, TK?“

He looks up and sees that the woman looks worried.

He lets go oft he pill bottle immediately, like he’s been burnt by it.

“I didn’t want … I …“

He can’t get the words out and swallows hard. He watches Marjan put the pill bottle away, quickly.

“I know, it’s ok. Do you want me to call your Dad?“

TK shakes his head, he doesn’t want to worry his dad. And nothing really had happened, right. He would talk in his therapy session tomorrow about it though. He scared himself a bit.

Marjan walks over to his side and puts an arm around his shoulder.

“My shift is over, why don’t you come with me and I’ll cook us something nice. Put some meat on those muscles again. And we could watch a movie, but I choose which one.“

She squeezes at his upper arm and gestures over towards the door.

“Yeah, that’d – that’d be nice.“

Marjan nods and grabs his hand but he stops her before she starts walking.

“Thank you Marj. Thank you.“

She gives him her biggest smile, the smile he loves so much. She’s like the big sister he’s never had.

“I got you, little bro.“

**4.**

Tk’s been staring at this book for half an hour now. It’s not that much pages but it lies heavy in his lap. Ten minutes ago the letters started dancing in front of his eyes and he couldn’t concentrate any longer so he just keeps on staring at them to make sense out it. He’s not allowed back to work yet, his shoulder and chest still healing. The nightmares are better and the sessions with the therapist and physio help a lot but he’s still not fully back on track. He’s still got problems to concentrate for longer, his brain shutting down on him sometimes. He catches himself doozing off or he’s zoning out. The doctors say it’s an after effect of him being starved of oxygen for a bit. With time things should get better though. The thing that TK frustrates the most is that his speech sometimes fails and he can’t get the words out.

He decided to visit the team today because he’s sick of hanging around at home. They were happy to see him but as soon as he was there they had an alarm and they went out on a call. 

His father shoved a book into his hands before leaving. It’s a new manual about something, he hasn’t figured out yet.

He sits on the couch with Buttercup lying next to him. He sighs and closes the book. He lets his head fall back on the couch and he puts his arms over his eyes.

“Any luck with the book? It’s frigging boring, but don’t tell Cap I said that.“

TK startles, he didn’t even hear the team coming back. He must have totally zoned out. He looks up at Mateo who grins at him.

“I couldn’t even really start it, my brain’s still to jumbled.“

He sighs again and leans over to pat Buttercup on the head. It calms him down.

Mateo walks over to him and sits down next to him.

“Hey, don’t give up. I know how hard it is when the brain doesn’t want to cooperate with you.“

TK remembers that Mateo is dyslexic and always has troubles to read or concentrate for too long. He feels a bit bad now that he’s complaining because his brain should be back to normal soon but Mateo lives with his illness.

“Sorry, Mateo.“

Mateo shakes his head and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s ok, I get the frustration. Just give it a bit more time. Doc’s said you’ll be fine yeah?“

“Yeah.“

Mateo gets up and points over to the rest rooms.

“I should get a shower.“

TK watches the other man disappear to the showers. He pats Buttercup again but then gets up and grabs the book. Maybe a scenery change might help him concentrate better. He makes his way out to the hall where he bumps into his father.

“Hey, TK, you heading off?“

“Yeah gotta get this into my head somehow.“

He starts walking but his father grabs his shoulder and looks at him with worry.

“Are you ok?“

The younger man sighs and scratches at his chin.

“Trouble concentrating.“

Owens face goes soft and he rubs at his sons’s arm.

“There’s no rush, take your time and the doctors- …“

TK waves his hand around and frowns at his Dad.

“Yeah, yeah I know. See you at home, Dad.“

He turns around and leaves the fire station. The afternoon is quiet and he lies down for a nap in hope he can start reading again later and he’ll do better this time. He gets some pages done till the evening but his head hurts and he’s tired again so he calls it a night and goes to bed.

He had a restfull night and he feels better. In the morning he makes his way down to the kitchen. He smiles when he sees that his father made breakfast for him. His favorite power drink is in the fridge and he takes a sip and also takes a bite from the bread. He looks over to the living room and sees the book still lying on the table. He rolls his eyes and starts walking over to the living room when suddenly the door bell rings.

He turns around and opens the door.

“Hey TK, what’s up?“

Mateo is smiling and nervously playing with his fingers.

“Mateo, what you doing here? Are you not working today?“

The other man grabs his rucksack and gets a memory stick out and holds it into TK’s face.

“What’s this?“

Mateo hands the stick over to TK.

“Remember the time I had my fire fighter test and you guys helped me reading the books by recording the text for me? The new book is on there.“

He points at the stick.

“We all read some pages for you and recorded it so you can listen to it till you’re feeling better.“

TK blushes and scratches his head.

“This is so kind of you, guys. Wow thanks.“

Mateo nudges his shoulder and smiles again.

“You helped me, so I wante to help you too.“

The boy looks at his watch and jumps into action.

“Right off to my shift, can’t wait to have you back soon, bro.“

TK watches the boy run down the street and smiles.

**5.**

TK feels like he’s running in circles at the moment. He’s working so hard to get his health back but everytime he thinks he’s getting somewhere, something else throws him back. His shot wound is healing nicely and the stiffness is better, sometimes it feels sore but it’s better. He’s not back to work yet but it’s planned to have him back on shift in the next two weeks. That’s why he’s currently at the training room of the fire house. Since the accident he’s lost strength in his arms and he needs to get it back. He’s been training with his physiotherapist already but he wants to do more. The team is currently at the morning briefing so he has all the equipment for himself.

He starts with cycling for a couple of minutes and he thinks he’s done very well. He pushes some weights with his arms, it feels good. His muscles move in a steady rythm and he’s on an adrenalin rush. He looks over to the big barbells. He knows he shouldn‘ t use them but he walks over to the bench and puts the bigger weights on. He lies down and pushes the weight up. His muscles burn and and the first push ups are easy. He repeats the action a couple of times till suddenly he feels a sharp pain on his chest, running over to his shoulder. He yells out in pain and he can’t hold his arms up any longer, the barbell is falling down on his face dangerously. He squeezes his eyes shut and he waits for the pain. But it doesn’t come. He opens his eyes and looks directly into Pauls face. The other man’s holding the weight and putting it quickly back in it’s safety. He looks a bit mad and TK feels guilty.

“Man, TK, what were you thinking using the big weights on your own, especially when you need to be careful with your shoulder.“

TK scoffs. He knows he‘s overeacting now but he’s frustrated. He tries to get up from the bench but the pain is back and it takes his breath away for a second. He feels hands on his back and Paul’s helping him up to sit.

“You ok?“

TK rubs at his chest and nods.

“Yeah, thanks.“

Paul hands him a water bottle and he hastily takes a sip only to throw it against the floor in anger.

“Hey, hey TK, calm down. Nothing happened ok, you’re ok. Take it easy.“

TK turns around looking furious. He’s not furious at Paul, he’s glad the other man was there in time, but his stress and anger needs to get out.

“I don’t want to take it easy Paul, I want to get back on track and do my job again. I wanna go out there and help people.“

Pauls face softens and he sits down next to the younger man.

“I know you want to come back, but pushing yourself won’t do you any good.“

TK sighs and puts his head into his hands.

“I know, I know.“

Paul put his hand on the other man’s shoulder.

“I could help you with training, if you want.“

“So I won’t over do it.“ TK laughs.

“Yeah, that too.“ Paul laughs back.

The alarm goes and Paul has to runn off, leaving TK with his thoughts.

TK doesn’t go back the fire house next day and stays in bed. He’s frustrated and in a mood. The next morning he gets a text from Paul saying he should get his arse to the fire house rigth now.

TK peels himself out of bed and gets dressed. He drives up to the fire house. Judd’s working on one of the fire trucks when he walks in.

“Yo, finally showing your face bro, damn time. Paul’s waitiung for you at the gym.“

He bumps fists with Judd and walks over to the training room.

Paul’s already lifting some weights but stops when he sees TK walk in. TK grabs a bottle of water from the table and throws it over to Paul.

“Time you showed up, kid.“

The other man gestures him to sit on the bench with him. He hands him a note and TK looks confused at him.

“What’s this?“

He opens the note and sees a work out plan.

“This my friends, is your work out plan, we gonna do together to get you back in shape, in not time. But in a slow and healhty way.“

“Oh wow this is - awesome, thank you. But inbetween your shifts shouldnt you be resting.“

Paul bumps against his arm.

“All good bro, I got this and I got you.“

He raises his hand for a high five and TK laughs.

**+1**

TK feels a bit nervous when he walks over the drive way of the fire station. It’s been over four weeks now that he hadn’t been to work. His body and mind needed healing. He had the best support of everyone and he finally felt strong enough to get back to work. There were still a couple of issues he had to fight but the fire department cleared him for being back on duty.

He takes a deep breath and pushes down the door handle of the main door.

He steps in and it’s quiet. The fire trucks stand on their usual place and the fire fighter gears and helmets are hanging on their spot. He looks around but can’t see anyone.

He walks further into the hall when he hears someone hackle. Buttercup’s walking towards him, tail wiggling in excitement.

”Hey boy, good to see you, where’s everyone?”

TK crouches down and strokes the dogs head. He gets up again and Buttercup moves behind him, bumping into his knees with his head.

”You want to show me something?”

Buttercup barks once and runs off to the back of the hall. TK follows and when he gets around the corner, he sees them.

“SURPRISE!!!!!”

His team’s standing there with ballons and Mateo is throwing confetti over him. There’s a big banner on the wall saying “TK is back in da’ house”. 

Marjan runs straight towards him and throws her arms around him. She squeezes him tight, tears in her eyes.

“Missed you, babe!”

He smiles and gently rubs her back. He can’t really move further though because Mateo is almost tackling him down and hugging him tight.

His father is standing on the side smiling softly, watching them. He looks happy and TK waves at him. 

Paul walks over and slaps him on the shoulder.

“Good to have you back, bro.”

TK sees Judd coming towards him and he rises his and to shake it but instead Judd surrounds his shoulders and pushes him into a hug. He tousles through his hair and places a kiss on his head.

“Glad you’re back, kid.”

Buttercup runs around them and everyone is laughing. He looks over to the tables on the side, where’s loads of cakes and food on there. Carlos is standing next to his Dad and he walks over to join them.

“Did you know about this?”

He kisses his boyfriend softly on the mouth and takes his hand. Carlos just shrugs and laughs.

“This is great thank you.”

TK feels happy, the love of his friends and family overwhelming him. He’s finally back home.

The party gets interrupted when the alarm goes off.

“Right everyone, off to the trucks.”

TK moves on instinct like he never missed one hour at the fire station. He jumps into his fire fighter gear and puts the helmet on. He runs over to the fire trucks but stops for a second to just look at the sight in front of him. It’s beautifuk the, the suns standing low and shining through the open halldoors, the fire trucks shine in the sunlight and it’s stunning. The adrenalin in his body makes him feel strong.

“You ready, son?”

His father turns around before getting into one of the trucks.

TK nods.

“I’m ready.”


End file.
